DUNN: Dyer's managing key in first Red Sox-Cardinals World Series

The hitting of Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial, left to right, has been an important factor in putting the St. Louis Cardinals in first place in the National League this season. Between them they have hit safely 315 times this season. Slaughter has 107 and Musial and Slaughter each have 104 this year. Slaughter is one hit short having 1600 in his Major League career. (AP Photo)

On the eve of the 1946 World Series Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams was hanging out with three New York sportswriters. That might seem strange in light of his famous spats with Boston scribes, but Williams obviously was comfortable with this trio from Gotham.

The topic of discussion was the radical shift that St. Louis Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer had said he would deploy against Williams. He intended to move his shortstop, Marty Marion, onto the right side of the infield and leave only third baseman Whitey Kurowski on the left side.

Shifts like this are commonplace today, but in 1946 the idea was a novelty. At best it was a bold move. Most observers, including all three of Williams’ companions, considered it foolhardy.

The sportswriters were unanimous in their belief that all The Thumper needed to do was whack a few hits to left field and Dyer would soon move Marion back where they thought he belonged. Williams, however, was not persuaded. He felt the best way to defeat the shift was to simply drive the ball through it. No one was going to talk him out it.

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No one did.

The American League’s Most Valuable Player suffered through a miserable World Series in which he batted .200 with only five hits, all of which were singles. He struck out five times and 10 of his other 15 outs were on balls he pulled to the right side — directly into the teeth of the Cardinals’ shift.

Dyer’s introduction of the “Williams shift” is only one reason the 1946 World Series — the first one that matched the Red Sox and Cardinals — was a humdinger.

The signature moment of the series came in the eighth inning of Game Seven when Enos “Country” Slaughter of the Cardinals scored from first on a two-out double by Harry “The Hat” Walker. Slaughter surprised everyone in the ballpark, including Red Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky, when he didn’t stop at third on the hit. Pesky casually held onto the relay throw for an extra moment before he realized he had to make a play at home. That hesitation was costly as Slaughter scored the game’s decisive run.

Because of his hesitation, Pesky has gone down in history as the goat of the 1946 World Series. No one has ever been recognized as the hero.

I think someone should be and that someone is Dyer, a rookie manager who twice took big chances and watched both of them pay off handsomely.

The Williams shift, of course, was one of those moves. He wasn’t afraid to do it even though he knew If it had backfired he probably would have been ridiculed forever.

The second big move happened in Game Seven, a few moments before Slaughter’s mad dash. We’re coming to that.

Despite a splendid lineup that included future Hall of Famers Slaughter, Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals were slight underdogs in the Series. The Red Sox had four dependable starting pitchers but the Cardinals appeared to have no depth behind their ace, 21-game winner Howie Pollet.

After Pollet lost a 10-inning heartbreaker in Game One, Dyer tabbed Harry “The Cat” Brecheen to start Game Two. Brecheen was a 31-year-old lefty whose nickname came from his great fielding prowess. He was coming off what had been a mediocre 15-15 season.

In the World Series, however, he came up big. He fired a four-hit shutout in Game Two. Then, after the Red Sox won two of three games in Fenway Park, Brecheen again went the route in Game Six as the Cardinals forced a seventh game.

Murray Dickson was the Cardinals starter in the finale and he carried a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning when consecutive pinch hits put Red Sox on second and third with no one out and the top of the batting order coming up. Dyer decided it was time to pull Dickson.

He made his second gutsy move of the Series when he brought Brecheen out of the bullpen only one day after the veteran lefty had pitched a complete game.

Brecheen appeared to be equal to the task when he struck out Wally Moses and retired Pesky on a fly ball. The he faltered, allowing a game-tying double to Dom DiMaggio. With Rudy York on deck he chose to pitch to Williams retired the Thumper on a pop fly.

For the moment, the game was tied. In the bottom of the inning, however, Slaughter untied it with the most famous 270-foot gallop in baseball history. That put Brecheen in position to win his third game of the Series. He did it, but it was far from routine.

York opened the ninth with a single and was replaced by a pinch runner. Bobby Doerr got an infield hite and Boston again had two on and none out. Dyer resisted the temptation to replace Brecheen with a fresh arm and The Cat rewarded his manager’s confidence when he mowed down the next three hitters.

— Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has covered baseball for The Trentonian for 45 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com